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{{short description|Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character}}{{about|the cartoon character|the film|Speedy Gonzales (film)|other uses}}{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2012}}{{Use American English|date=November 2012}}

factoids

Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast, being quick-witted and heroic while speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent.BOOK, Lenburg, Jeff, The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons, 1999, Checkmark Books, 0-8160-3831-7, 6 June 2020,weblink 137, He usually wears a yellow sombrero, white shirt and trousers (which was a common traditional outfit worn by men and boys of rural Mexican villages), and a red kerchief, similar to that of some traditional Mexican attires.WEB, Puebla: trajes típicos,weblink 23 March 2014, To date, there have been 46 theatrical shorts made either starring or featuring the character.

History

File:Early-Speedy.jpg|thumb|A still of an early version of Speedy Gonzales as appeared in Cat-Tails for Two (animated by Charles McKimsonCharles McKimsonSpeedy's first appearance was in 1953's Cat-Tails for Two though he appeared largely in name (and super speed) only.BOOK, Rovin, Jeff, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals, 1991, Prentice Hall Press, 0-13-275561-0, 8 April 2020,weblink 246, It would be two years before Friz Freleng and layout artist Hawley Pratt redesigned the character into his modern incarnation for the 1955 Freleng short of the same name. The cartoon features Sylvester the Cat guarding a cheese factory at the international border between the United States and Mexico from starving Mexican mice. The mice call in the plucky, excessively energetic Speedy (voiced by Mel Blanc) to save them. Amid cries of "¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Epe! ¡Epe! ¡Epe! Yeehaw!" (Spanish for "Go on! Go on! Up! Up!", although "Ándale arriba" may have been intended as meaning "hurry up"), Sylvester soon gets his comeuppance. The cartoon won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).File:Speedy Gonzales (1955 short).jpg|thumb|Speedy Gonzales in the 1955 short film of the same name ]]While Speedy's last name was given as Gonzalez in Cat-Tails (on a printed business card shown in the cartoon), it was spelled with an 's' from Speedy Gonzales onward. Today, the earlier spelling is sometimes used.Freleng and McKimson soon set Sylvester up as Speedy's regular nemesis in a series of cartoons, much in the same way Chuck Jones had paired Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in his Road Runner cartoons (and indeed, all four characters ended up competing with each other in the short "The Wild Chase"). Sylvester (often called "El Gringo Pussygato" by Speedy) is constantly outsmarted and outrun by the mouse, causing the cat to suffer all manner of pain and humiliation from mousetraps to accidentally consuming large amounts of Tabasco hot sauce. Other cartoons pair the mouse with his cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez, the "slowest Mouse in all Mexico." Slowpoke regularly gets into all sorts of trouble that often require Speedy to save him—but one cat in Mexicali Shmoes says that as if to compensate for his slowness, "he pack a gun!"WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131019110535weblink">weblink 2013-10-19, dead, Speedy Gonzales and Slowpoke Rodriguez in Mexicali Shmoes, YouTube, April 11, 2010, In the mid 1960s, Speedy's main rival and second nemesis became Daffy Duck, whom Speedy usually referred to as "the (wiktionary:loco#Etymology 2|loco) duck."Speedy has the reputation of being a hit with the female mice. In many cartoons, when the mice decide to get Speedy to help them, one mouse will say words to the effect of "Speedy Gonzales is friend of my sister". Another mouse will say "Speedy Gonzales is friend of everyone's sister".

Notable cartoon appearances

• Cat-Tails for Two (1953) - Early version
• Speedy Gonzales (1955) - Debut, official, Academy Award-winner, 28th (1955) - Short Subject (Cartoon)WEB,weblink The 28th Academy Awards (1955) Nominees and Winners - Short Subject (Cartoon), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Oscars.org, June 9, 2014,
• Tabasco Road (1957), Academy Award-nominated
• Mexicali Shmoes (1959), Academy Award-nominated
• The Pied Piper of Guadalupe (1961), Academy Award-nominated
• A Message to Gracias (1964)
• It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House (1965) - first appearance with Daffy Duck.
• See Ya Later Gladiator (1968) - final theatrical appearance.

Concern about stereotypes

Feeling that the character presented an offensive Mexican stereotype, Cartoon Network shelved Speedy's films when it gained exclusive rights to broadcast them in 1999 (as a subsidiary of Time Warner, Cartoon Network is a corporate sibling to Warner Bros.). In an interview with Fox News on March 28, 2002, Cartoon Network spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg commented, "It hasn't been on the air for years because of its ethnic stereotypes."WEB,weblink Speedy Gonzales Caged by Cartoon Network, July 7, 2009, Park, Michael Y., March 28, 2002, FoxNews.com,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120116073419weblink">weblink January 16, 2012, dead, The Hispanic-American rights organization League of United Latin American Citizens called Speedy a cultural icon, and thousands of users registered their support of the character on the hispaniconline.com message boards. Fan campaigns to put Speedy back on the air resulted in the return of the animated shorts to Cartoon Network in 2002.NEWS, Emling, Shelly,weblink A Speedy return: Cartoon Network putting Mexican mouse back in the lineup, November 6, 2010, June 21, 2002, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10B, {{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}Speedy Gonzales remained a popular character in Latin America. Many Hispanic people remembered him fondly as a quick-witted, heroic Mexican character who always got the best of his opponents, at a time when such positive depictions of Latin Americans were rare in popular entertainment.NEWS, Epstein, Adam, Looney Tunes' most racially stereotypical character is about to get his own movie,weblink 30 December 2020, Quartz, 5 April 2016, In 2006, Volkswagen licensed Speedy Gonzales for a series of Spanish-language commercials for the Volkswagen Golf, using footage from the cartoon of the same name.WEB,weblink Arriba! VW Turns to Speedy Gonzales To Push GTI, July 7, 2009, March 20, 2006, Indiacar.net, September 3, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200903231817weblink">weblink dead, In a March 2021 essay, Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano wrote, “I love Speedy so much, I keep a large painting of him in my home office. His kind smile and brown skin takes me back to my childhood — and reminds me of where we as Mexicans exist today.”WEB, Arellano, Gustavo, 2021-03-17, Column: Why do so many Mexican Americans defend Speedy Gonzales?,weblink 2021-03-18, Los Angeles Times, en-US,

Other appearances

In 1983, he co-starred with Daffy Duck once again in (Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island). He also made a cameo appearance in the finale sequence of the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.BOOK, Montilla, Patricia M., Latinos and American Popular Culture,weblink 10 October 2013, ABC-CLIO, 978-0-313-39223-8, 141, He had one appearance in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode segment "The Acme Acres Summer Olympics", as the coach, and serving as the mentor of Lightning Rodriguez. He had a minor role in the 1996 film Space Jam. He made a cameo appearance alongside Porky Pig in the 2003 film (Looney Tunes: Back in Action), making fun of his politically incorrect status. At around the same time, he made a non-speaking cameo in an episode of ¡Mucha Lucha! titled "Lucha, Rinse and Repeat".Volume 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD series, released on November 14, 2006, has an entire disc of Speedy shorts, although some of his other shorts had previously been released on Volumes 1 and 3. Speedy is mentioned in one Duck Dodgers episode, after Cadet sits on Dodgers, prompting him to say, "I knew I should've chosen Speedy Gonzales as a sidekick!"Speedy Gonzales appears in Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas. He is an employee at the Lucky Duck Superstore for the greedy Daffy Duck where he confuses Daffy with the Feliz Navidad comment.Speedy Gonzales also appeared occasionally on The Looney Tunes Show. He is seen living with Bugs and Daffy as their "mouse in the wall" and running the pizza parlor Pizzarriba. Speedy is shown to act as Daffy's conscience, which is a far cry from the antagonistic relationship they had in the old days. The episode "Sunday Night Slice" showed that Bugs bought his favorite restaurant, Girardi's, to prevent it from being closed and hired Speedy to help him. When Bugs decides he does not want to own a restaurant anymore, he hands ownership of it to Speedy. In "The Black Widow", Speedy Gonzales answers Daffy Duck's call and races to Tacapulco to convince his cousin Sheriff Slowpoke Rodriguez to let Daffy Duck and Porky Pig out of jail.Speedy Gonzales appeared in the 2015 straight to video movie (Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run). He is seen as Lola Bunny's landlord.An elderly Speedy Gonzales (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) was "interviewed" by Al Madrigal for Madrigal's one-hour comedic documentary special Half Like Me (currently available on YouTube and formerly on Hulu).WEB,weblink Half Like Me featuring Al Madrigal, YouTube, April 5, 2016, Speedy Gonzales appeared occasionally in New Looney Tunes, often as the leader of a gang of mice that also includes Hubie and Bertie, Sniffles, and "Minnesota Rats" (originally Minniesoda Fats; an aborted 1970s character revived and fleshed out in this series). He seems to have reverted to his personality from Merrie Melodies.

In other media

In 1962, pop singer Pat Boone scored a top 10 hit in the United States with the song "Speedy Gonzales" which featured Mel Blanc samples as Speedy. It was also sung by Manolo Muñoz and several other artists.In 1965, the movie Wild on the Beach included the song "Little Speedy Gonzales" which was written by Stan Ross and Bobby Beverly and performed by The Astronauts.WEB,weblink IMDB Wild on the Beach, soundtracks, IMDB, December 14, 2015, In 1995, he appeared in a video game, (Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos), for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.In 2006, Volkswagen licensed Speedy Gonzales for a series of Spanish-language commercials for the Volkswagen Golf, using footage from the cartoon of the same name.Speedy Gonzales starred in several video games: Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, and Game Gear, (Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Speedy Gonzales for the Game Boy and (Speedy Gonzales: Aztec Adventure) for the Game Boy Color. He also appeared as an enemy in (Looney Tunes: Back in Action (video game)|Looney Tunes: Back in Action), and (Looney Tunes: Marvin Strikes Back!) as both a miniboss and playable character.In the 2018 film Overboard, Eugenio Derbez has a tattoo of Gonzalez.

Film adaptation

In 2010, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema announced a new Speedy Gonzales live action / animated feature film. George Lopez was attached to voice the character.NEWS, Fernandez, Jay A., New Line making Speedy Gonzales film; George Lopez to voice character,weblink The Hollywood Reporter, February 23, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100227082731weblink">weblink February 27, 2010, In December 2015, it was reported that an animated film is in development at Warner Bros.WEB, Josh, Lyons, (Exclusive) Warner Bros. running with "Speedy Gonzales" animated feature,weblink The Tracking Board, January 25, 2016, December 11, 2015, In April 2016, it was announced that Eugenio Derbez will voice the character.WEB, 'Speedy Gonzales' Eyed As Animated Feature At Warner Bros., Anita, Busch,weblink Deadline Hollywood, April 4, 2016, April 4, 2016,

Voice actors

• Mel Blanc (1953–1989)
• Malcolm McNeill (Spin a Magic Tune)WEB,weblink 'Spin a Magic Tune' - Track 10 - 'Speedy Gonzales' - 1973 album, YouTube, 31 October 2023, WEB, Spin a Magic Tune,weblink Mike McNaught Music, 31 October 2023,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150620123607weblink">weblink 20 June 2015,
• Stan Freberg ("Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" in Blue Peter)WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-11, live, Banana Boat Song with Bugs Bunny and Speedy Gonzales, YouTube, May 14, 2020, {{cbignore}}
• Noel Blanc (You Rang? answering machine messages,WEB,weblink You Rang? Answering Machine Messages Bugs Bunny, YouTube, July 7, 2022, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball, MetLife commercialWEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-11, live, MetLife Cartoon Super Bowl Commercial Old-School Cartoons Star In New Ad, YouTube, February 24, 2021, {{cbignore}})
• Joe Alaskey (Tiny Toon Adventures, Looney Tunes River Ride,WEB, Looney Tunes River Ride,weblink 2020-04-16, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!,WEB, Yosemite Sam's Gold River Adventure,weblink 2020-04-16, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, Sunsoft commercial,WEB, Sunsoft,weblink 2020-04-16, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, The Looney Tunes Kwazy Christmas,WEB,weblink THE LOONEY TUNES KWAZY CHRISTMAS, VGMdb, December 7, 2021, (Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor))
• Greg Burson (Acme Animation Factory,TWEET, 1294425946804703233, vas_90s, Greg Burson - Bugs Bunny Game: Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage Platform: Super NES Year: 1993 Note: Burson was the go-to…, December 6, 2020, August 15, 2020, (Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos), Bugs Bunny's Learning Adventures, Quest for Camelot promotionWEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-11, live, Quest for Camelot promotion with the Looney Tunes (1998), YouTube, June 28, 2021, {{cbignore}})
• Keith Scott (Canon commercials,WEB,weblink Canon, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, 2020-04-16, The Looney Tunes Radio Show,WEB, That Wascally Wabbit,weblink 28 July 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120317112128weblink">weblink 17 March 2012, WEB, The Day I Met Bugs Bunny,weblink Ian Heydon, 9 October 2020, Looney Rock)WEB, Keith Scott: Down Under's Voice Over Marvel,weblink Animation World Network, July 28, 2020, "Keith Scott-"The One-Man Crowd"" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916224159weblink |date=September 16, 2020 }}. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
• Jeff Bergman ((Cartoon Network (Latin America)|Toon Biography: Speedy Gonzales))WEB, Speedy Gonzales,weblink 2020-09-11, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US,
• Eric Goldberg ((Looney Tunes: Back in Action))
• Billy West ((Looney Tunes: Back in Action (video game)|Looney Tunes: Back in Action – The Video Game))
• James Arnold Taylor (Drawn Together)
• Seth Green (Robot Chicken)WEB,weblink Robot Chicken, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, 2020-04-16,
• Bob Bergen (Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, A Looney Tunes Sing-A-Long Christmas,WEB,weblink AllMusic, A Looney Tunes Sing-A-Long Christmas, James, Monger, November 26, 2021, Volkswagen commercialsWEB, Volkswagen,weblink 2020-09-11, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, )
• Kerry Shale (Virgin Media commercials)WEB, V/O CV,weblink Kerry Shale, 11 March 2020, WEB,weblink Virgin Media,
• Fred Armisen (The Looney Tunes Show, (Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run))
• Tim Dadabo (singing voice in The Looney Tunes Show, speaking voice in Scooby Doo and Looney Tunes: Cartoon Universe)WEB, Kristen Wiig on Looney Tunes,weblink The Mary Sue, July 13, 2011, March 8, 2021, WEB,weblink Tim Dabado Animation, YouTube, October 20, 2023,
• Carlos Alazraqui (Half Like Me)
• Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes Dash, Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem)
• Dino Andrade (New Looney Tunes)
• Gabriel Iglesias ((Space Jam: A New Legacy))TWEET, 1368379750587064322, fluffyguy, I am the voice of Speedy Gonzales in the new Space Jam. Does this mean they are gonna try to cancel Fluffy too? U c…, March 7, 2021,
• Raul Ceballos (Bugs Bunny Builders)

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• Nericcio, William Anthony (1996). “Autopsy of a Rat: Odd, Sundry Parables of Freddy Lopez, Speedy Gonzales, and Other Chicano/Latino Marionettes Prancing about Our First World Visual Emporium.” Camera Obscura 37 (January 1996): 189–237.
• Nericcio, William Anthony (2007). Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America. University of Texas Press.
• Schneider, Steve (1990). That's All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt & Co.
• Solomon, Charles (1994). The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings. Random House Value Publishing.

External links

{{commons category-inline}}

• Speedy Gonzales at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017.
• The Tex(t)-Mex Galleryblog an archive for the second edition of the University of Texas Press (2007) book on stereotypes.
• NEWS,weblink Is Speedy Gonzales A Mexican Hero Or A Stereotype In Cartoon Form?, Carolina, Moreno, April 7, 2016, January 17, 2018, HuffPost,

{{Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies}}{{Speedy Gonzales in animation}}{{Looney Tunes video games}}{{Authority control}}